Thrill-Seeking Snowboarder from Stanford

By Ashley Walter 

          Cassie Michelotti, 20, a native of Stanford, Connecticut, is a sophomore here at St. Thomas Aquinas College. She enjoys playing for the Spartan ladies lacrosse team, where she excels playing mid field. Cassie was one of the founders of the girl’s lacrosse team at her high school. The team started off as a club team and spent 3 years as JV before the Fairfield County conference approved the team as Varsity. Unfortunately, Cassie wasn’t able to experience her team at the Varsity level because she graduated. When I asked Cassie why she wanted to attend St. Thomas Aquinas College, her face lit up with a smile and a slight crease of confusion in her forehead showed that an ironic story was on the way. She gave a short chuckle and said, “My guidance counselor sent my college application to the wrong school!”
          Regardless of Cassie ending up at STAC out of mistake, she likes it here for the most part because she is able to commute to the mountains in upstate New York pretty easily. She is studying graphic design and isn’t quite sure what she wants to do for a career. She has a part time job working for her father’s company “Raw Design”. This is a motorcycle company that sells metric parts for those people looking to customize their motorcycles for a cheaper price. She works on the company’s website and practices her graphic design skills.
          It comes as no surprise that Cassie’s favorite color is blue since she spends almost every winter weekend in upstate New York snowboarding the slopes at Catamount. She started snowboarding when she was 15 years old and hasn’t stopped since. Nothing stops this snowboarder, not even blizzard conditions!
          “I almost died this past weekend with the snow storm that hit New York!” Cassie explains with excitement. When she was trying to drive back home the roads going down a very steep hill were not plowed yet and visibility was limited with the snow. “I was gripping my steering wheel for dear life!” Cassie remarks. The car was sliding and drifting into the other lane centimeters away from hitting oncoming cars! Luckily, Cassie regained control of her car and was able to return back to us safely.

Small Town Girl With Big Dreams

By Dominique Scarinci

            Kelsey Robbins was born April 20, 1991 in Peekskill, New York and grew up to be a diehard Giants and Yankees fan. Twenty years later she finds herself studying psychology with a minor of communications at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Psychology was easy for Kelsey to pick; she was always the advice giver to her friends and family, willing to help under any circumstances and she loves the brain chemistry of psychology. Ms. Robbins aspires to work in a hospital as a social worker and one day own her own office of practice.

            At twenty Kelsey experienced one of the most breathtaking times of her life. It started one early morning at the Cornwall waterfront in upstate New York. As Kelsey lowered herself into her kayak she started on her adventure downstream on the Hudson River towards West Point. When she ducked under the train tracks and slowed her pace, she suddenly embraced the beauty of nature. “It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life,” she said of the river view. The sunset took Kelsey’s breath away and forever would be an image in her head.

            Kelsey has a close bond with her sister. Kelsey and her sister are two years apart and have hopes of one day going on an adventure across country. They desire to travel to Los Vegas and experience the I heart music festival up close and personal. Kelsey hopefully will one day travel everywhere she wants, as well as die her cat orange to look like Garfield.     

The Life of Dana

By Michele Piscitelli

            Dana Godwin is a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas College. She is majoring in Business and is also working for a minor in Communication Arts. She is from Wappingers Falls, in Dutchess County, New York, so she lives on the STAC campus during the school year. At STAC she lives with four member of the softball team. She does not play a sport but is a dedicated Giants fan. One of her roommates she went to high school with at R.C. Ketchem, and they have roomed together for all four of her years at STAC.

Dana is graduating in May and has been very involved in the college during the time she has been there. She participated in student government for two years and was chief justice and vice president. As well as student government, Dana loves theatre and has been a part of STAC’s theatre program. She is currently interning at Concepts in Health Inc., which is located in Blauvelt, New York. Some of Dana’s other interests are going out with her friends, her red Pontiac Sunfire, and her Maltese named Mickey. In addition to these things, Dana added, “I’m obsessed with music.”

Dana, who was born on February 23, 1990, has had many memorable experiences in her life which have been both happy and troublesome. When she was sixteen a benign tumor was discovered in her foot and it had to be surgically removed. She has also had her tonsils removed. Dana’s fondest memory was her trip to the Dominican Republic. She went there on vacation with her family after her second year of college. She recalls, “I was 20 years old and it was my first time on an airplane!” Her family had purchased a timeshare and they got to stay in their own villa by the beach. She remembers, “There was a pool in the backyard and it was right by the beach, so we could walk to it.” Dana has had many exciting experiences in her life already, and since she is graduating in May, she is sure to have many more. 

Dominique’s Modern Life

By Kelsey Robbins

             Dominique Scarinci insists that she had never done anything “interesting.” She simply explained that she is a 20-year-old STAC student  from Yonkers, New York.  Dominique admitted to having two older brothers “who kind of made my life a living hell.” They played rough with her but this could be why she is so driven in other areas of her life. At home her daily grind involves working almost every single day at the A & P shopping center.  Suddenly Dominique’s face lit up after I asked her what her dream job was. Her response was “I want to be an executive producer for MTV, or any TV station, but working for MTV is my goal”. Dominique plans on hitting the ground running, considering she is already looking for internships at television stations such as VH1.
            With this much ambition,  you would assume that  working in the entertainment business has always been Scarinci’s dream.  Originally, Scarinci dreamed of working in forensic science, but quickly discovered that the field was not for her. Instead she switched to a communications major and  so her dreams of being an executive producer were born.
            As the conversation continued it become clear that Dominique lived anything but a boring life. At the age of 16 she had the opportunity to go parasailing in Hawaii. Of course she took the opportunity. Dominique described the experience as serene, calming and one of the scariest experiences of her life. She went up by herself and tried to soak in the glorious view that surrounded her when suddenly it felt as if she was free falling into the clear turquoise water. Fear gripped her as she plummeted closer and closer to the possibly shark infested waters. Luckily she once again started to rise back into the air. It turns out the operators were just trying to get her feet wet.
            Dominique Scarinci has all the tools she needs to live out her dream, and the work ethic to achieve it. Although she claims to not lead an interesting life it’s apparent that  she’s experienced  many unique things. She has set high, distinctive goals for  herself and shows no fear  that she will not be capable of achieving them.

Settling into New Adjustments

 By Delilah Scrudato

     Walking towards me, Michele Beach looks at me with her bright blue eyes. She smiles and says, “Hi, I’m Michele!”  She is relaxed yet confident in her posture. Looking away, with her chin up it is clear Michele is thinking of something exceptional.  She turns back to me, twirls her long brown hair with her fingers and looks me in the eyes.  To introduce her story Michele starts with her favorite time of year, summer, and her proudest moment, graduating high school. 

The year prior to graduating Washingtonville High School, Michele saved up every penny to buy whatever her little heart desired for her upcoming trip to backpack round Europe.  Shortly after graduation she traveled through three different countries with a few of her fellow peers. When I ask if she regrets spending all of her savings in Europe, she replies, “No, not at all. It was a great experience and I wanted to be able to live in the moment.” Michele takes whatever opportunity is in front of her and embraces it.

Two weeks later Michele returned back home with the feeling that summer was almost over. It was mid July and she was to set off to St. Thomas Aquinas College in early September. Most importantly, Michele would miss her family and friends. She felt as if it was their last summer together. Going away to school for any upcoming freshman, is one of the biggest transitions of his or her lives, and not an easy one to do by oneself. Although Michele was out of sorts about leaving, she remained confident in herself. “I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t let anything distract me or get me down, because the first year of college is the most important,” she said.

                During Michele’s first semester at STAC, she wasted no time making friends and getting involved on campus. Within a few weeks she had joined several clubs and was even running for student government. Talk about driven! Shortly after, Michele was elected secretary of her class, which really got her involved in campus news and events. “It changed my whole perspective of campus life. It wasn’t just about the activities but how I grew as a person,” she reveals. Michele became even more confident. She received a work-study job in the Communications Department, where she met her new friend and mentor Bridget, her boss. Bridget encouraged Michele to try out for the school musical and to no surprise she landed the role. After all of her hard work, Michele is happy with the decisions she’s made. When I ask, why? Michele smiles and says, “It’s changed me into the sophisticated woman I am today.”

              

Meeting Michele

By Dana Godwin

                Meet the enthusiastic personality of sophomore Michele Piscitelli.  The New City resident is a commuter student here at STAC.  She was born on November 7, 1992, which would make her a Scorpio in the way of the zodiac world.  She has one older sister named Gina, who is an alum of STAC, and played lacrosse throughout her days at Clarkstown South High School.  A Communication Arts major, she plans on landing a career in the broadcast world, whether on camera or behind the scenes.  When she is not studying or attending class, she maintains a part time job at the Pharmacy in New City.  In addition to this part time job, she has expressed interest in becoming involved in the clubs and organizations that student government offers.

                Michele’s most memorable experience was a horrific shark encounter she had as a kid.  Vacationing with her relatives in Palm Coast, Florida, she was swimming in a residential section of the ocean that was unsupervised by lifeguards.  The shark swam close to shore and brushed into her and her cousin’s legs, absolutely terrifying them.  “I can remember the paralyzing fear that I felt but I knew I had to get out or I would be in trouble,” said Michele.   Fortunately for the two of them, they safely returned to shore unharmed.  From what others on shore could tell, there were about two six foot sharks that were drifting into the shallow waters.  Michele and her cousin won’t be swimming in unwatched beach locations ever again since that shocking experience.

                Michele is still young and has her whole life to live and turn her dreams into realities.  One day she hopes to take the lengthy plane ride to Hawaii, but until then stay here in New York.  She’s no rookie with travel, considering she has visited the adventurous city of Paris to visit family.  Aside from her travel and career dreams, she still lives the life of a young college student, favoring things like hanging out with friends and sleeping as much as possible.  There’s no telling where else this ambitious sophomore will go, but I am sure after our interview that her driven attitude will be taking her places!